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Committee advances a package of election-administration bills, including pay and staffing changes
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Summary
The committee favorably reported SB 202 (extra compensable days for parish election supervisors), SB 210 (clarifying number of election commissioners), and SB 25 (pay raises for registrars of voters with an amended salary schedule tied to census estimates). Registrars testified about steep increases in early and absentee workload.
The Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee reported a group of bills that would make operational changes for local election officials.
Senate Bill 202 (Senator Klein Peter) would add one compensable day for parish boards of election supervisors — increasing the maximum from six to seven days for parish elections and from eight to nine for presidential or regularly scheduled congressional elections — to allow time for pre- and post-election tasks such as testing and sealing machines, counting absentee ballots, and certifying results. Secretary of State staff were available to provide information, and the committee reported the bill favorably by unanimous consent.
Senate Bill 210 clarifies the number of election day commissioners: three commissioners for precincts with fewer than 300 active registered voters and four for larger precincts, a change intended to align closed party primary staffing with other elections. The committee reported SB 210 favorably.
Senate Bill 25 would adjust pay for registrars of voters and their chief deputies and confidential assistants; sponsors and parish registrars presented a timeline showing that responsibilities have risen sharply since 2007. Registrars Shanica Olin (Pointe Coupee Parish) and Amanda Raines (DeSoto Parish) told the committee that early and absentee voting increases — and new statutory duties such as cure processes and additional canvassing — have dramatically increased workload (presenters cited in-person early voting statewide rising from roughly 43,000 in 2006 to about 975,000 in the Nov. 2024 presidential election and ballots by mail from about 5,800 to about 125,000). The sponsor presented an amendment from the Secretary of State's office that ties salary-adjustment scheduling to federal census population estimates and limits adjustments to once per decennial census cycle; the committee adopted the amendments and reported the bill as amended.
Committee members asked how raises would be paid; the sponsor said funding and budgetary questions would be handled by the appropriate budget committees. The committee agreed to report all three bills favorably.
